Prayers for the parents, children, nation. Welcome to my blog
"Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
Nelson Mandela
WELCOME TO MY BLOG
Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
Oren Arnold
Reader Comments
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Bug, they had/have perfume with violet scent. Delicate and reminiscent of a time gone by.
I do not think that I have ever seen a Bill Murray film, but then, I am not a big movie goer.
By the way, in my area, one tv channel is announcing the airing of old Christmas movies. I believe they said the 20th of this month.
According to the link you left, there are 150 of those raspberry sweets in each bag!
Good morning Pros - we awoke to the first snow of the winter! I went out in my night attire to take photos! lol - the police are looking for a mad woman in a blue dressing gown, carrying a camera!
Hope you have a good day. I intend to do as little as possible - although I might make some more Christmas puddings, and I want to complete all my Christmas cards and maybe even make some soup! Nothing too strenuous :-)
Max started a load of laundry then went for his walk-about leaving me with the hanging them on the ine. I can barely raise my armes about my head these days because of my RA acting up now. That is the very reason I'm not looking forward to doing the Christmas tree. The last time I had one of theses attacks it lasted for several months.
I got a chuckle out of everyone running around in their nightclothes. One morning Max was taking out our recycles just as the school busses & following traffic stopped out front. He ducked behind the hedgerow so as to not be seen in his PJ's. His are the same type so many now seem to enjoy wearing aseveryday shopping wear. I simply do not understand the thinking sometimes, or is the lack of self esteem?
Take care..
What I don't like about Christmas? That people use XMAS instead!
Take care!
Anyway dear one, time to go and take my morning meds. Catch you later. Have a wonderful day.
Watching one of my favourite TV chefs do his Christmas fare and he is making Stollen and biscotti, which made me think of you:-)
Hope all is well with you and you are not wandering about in the neighbourhood in your night attire! lol
I will call you tomorrow.
Add: By the way, I needed a laugh today and you provided me with one! Thank you.
Hope you have a nice Saturday; it's just rainy and overall nasty here!
The soaps are good, too, and the Tangee lipstick. That was my first lipstick, and it just amazes me that it's still around. It's a fun catalog to browse - I was amazed to find some of those vintage perfumes still in their pages. Emeraude, Tigress, White Shoulders. My goodness - I can nearly smell them now!
I hope your day is a good one. I've got oodles to do because I've been so busy at work I've let the season slip away a bit. It's time to get with it!
(Note to Ylee ~ The "X" in Xmas actually is the Greek letter Chi, the first letter in "Christ". It's often combined with the letter Rho. The Chi Rho is one of the earliest "christograms", a way for Christians to recognize one another. It's formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" (Christ) in such a way to produce the monogram.
In fact, our word Christmas actually comes from the "Christ Mass" that was the Mass celebrated on the Feast of the Nativity!)
We went through MANY selections, and I liked the gifts in that package best. I sure hope that hats are silly!
~much love~
I called today and left a short message, I will call again tomorrow.
Love, mom
Hi, Pros!
Ylee, notice the bottom of the Canadian stamp, word and date. I just read that Xmas goes back a long way including a document from the 1500s, a letter by Lord Byron, etc. Shore sure knows her Xmas!
The crackers were shipped from PA! There is an interesting story on the cover. If I remember, tomorrow I will write a synopsis of the story. I found it interesting.
Shore, you are making my teeth tingle with virtual Vermont Store flavors! You really are into what the store has to offer!
Hi GG Will visit you tomorrow. I have not read your new blog yet. You are correct, calories do not count for the next several weeks!
Hi Sandi, I will be making Stollen as soon as I go shopping for yeast, I have the rest of the ingredients. I usually make a few and freeze them until the Christmas Eve dinner. I also keep one for New Years day. Sometimes I make biscotti but lately we have been ordering biscotti from a company we discovered about a year ago. We really like their biscotti so I will not make any this year, we already have a few boxes waiting to be eaten and shared.
Hi Alley. Did you get any sunshine today? How are the old achy bones? Did you feel well today?
Janet, for a good story about night clothes or the lack of them can be found on Sandy's blog. It is written by SkyBlue. If you have not read it, I think you will get a good laugh out of her story.
Time for me to get ready for bed and then read for a while. Have a good night everyone.
But please don't upset Koko trying to put a hat on her, pets wearing paper hats are not obligatory ... it is just a cute photo:)
Did you sleep well? I was prowling around the house all night until about 5 this morning then I slept until 8. Not good at all.
Oh, bless Aqua! She and Rain sent you a box of crackers? How fun! And very thoughtful. She knew it was something you'd love having for Christmas.
I can imagine what Raindad is going to think about the hats! LOL
I was poking around on the Vermont Country Store's website and found something I could probably use right now: Spring Chicken Muscle Rub! It says it will make you feel like a spring chicken again. LOL
Oh, the perfumes... the names take me back. I love that they carry delicate, old fashioned things like honeysuckle, gardenia, rose. Those types of scents are hard to find now. Even Avon doesn't offer them any more. Or they didn't, the last time I looked at a catalog. I rarely order Avon.
I am so sorry you didn't sleep well.... I suggest a very large brandy in hot milk tonight! Lol
Have a great evening. I have decorated both trees - the day went better than I thought it would!
Forget the hot milk. Just waft the milk jug over the brandy snifter.
Seriously, I do hope you manage to get a better night's sleep tonight.
That postage stamp you showed in #65 is quite interesting. Of course, I knew that the British Empire was in many places all over the world, but I don't recall ever seeing it all in a map. Certainly the caption at the bottom was bold. Can you imagine the reaction now if they were to issue that stamp?
Hope you went back to bed, and got some well deserved sleep.
Lots of bits and pieces today. I have posted the cards for the folk in the UK, then went shopping to stock up on food for the meals this week, but I have decided to place an order with the on-line grocery shop for a delivery mid-week, next week, to save me battling around the supermarket.
Have a happy Monday.
Sandi, actually I slept pretty well last night but around 5 I woke up and could not go back to sleep. So I visited a few blogs and then went back to bed and slept some more. So all is well in the sleep department for today.
Good, it seems that you are pacing yourself and taking care of yourself. Shopping for groceries on line is really a fabulous idea, I have not done so yet but I know the day will come when I will have to shop in this manner.
By coincidence, this morning I gave my husband a bagful of cards to be mailed later today. He went to play gold and on the way home he will stop at the post office. The overseas cards were mailed a week ago. I still have a few more cards to write and will do so soon.
All of the shopping has been done except for my hubby (I do have a few items already). He finally gave me the list this morning (a miracle in itself!). Our cleaning crew broke our favorite teapot a couple of weeks ago and am shopping for a Portmeiron teapot, the botanicals probably. Hubby is the big tea drinker and user of the teapot. I do have several English and Welsh teapots but I use them only for company. It's a habit I picked up from my mother, save the best for company.
Happy cooking and grocery shopping!
BC, I too hope K will cooperate for a photo. Yes, if I take one, I will post it.
Interesting! I looked at the Canadian stamp and never went beyond the Xmas. I was focusing so much that I never saw the sentence below the Xmas and the date, nor did I look at the map of the empire. I am glad that you are alert for the two of us! Yes, they did have a vast empire at one time. I suppose the Colonies could be considered part of the 'empire', could they?
Bug, the suggestion about the brandy sounds good, but I do not drink alcohol, I only use cooking wines. I do drink a cup of hot mild before going to bed but it seldom works, except to add calories and fat on my hips.
Now, Spring Chicken Muscle Rub sounds funny and very useful! Boy I do need some of it! Except with that name I would not ever apply it! He he. What I need is a relaxing massage, now that would be wonderful.
Raindad indicated that he might wear the hat for a little while to amuse our grandchildren and for a photo op, I hope.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Monday and rest of the week.
I have sent you an outer mail .... :-)
Had a very lazy day, trying to overcome the bout of BPPV brought on, I think, by decorating my trees! Agh well,they look lovely, and the vertigo - will go - eventually!
Hope you are well, and just busy :-)
We have been wet & cool all day. I keep trying to get the Christmas Spirit & get something done. We did have a good chat with #2 son this morning. So thats a good thing for today :) #1 is in the process of packing out of their home and moving. Not a good time for such but one does what one has to do. His job has him on the move.
Oh, I'm up every morning around 5-5:30, I love it, but to each his own...
Take care
Have a nice day today!
Hi (((Pros))) ~
Sadly, this so-called "sicko" was the 20 yr old younger son of the Connecticut kindergarten school teacher assistant who was targeted and killed by him while at home, along with 5 other innocent adults (teachers?) and 20 other very young innocent lives in the school.
I keep hearing the stanza, "How many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died?", taken from the old Bob Dylan tune, "Blowin' In the Wind", (written decades ago for other reasons), pounding in my brain. Sadly, it's now applicable to the current ongoing domestic war waged in our Country about guns vs. control. The answer should not be "blowin' in the wind" but with us standing up to Congress and the NRA leaders! Congress is supposed to work to FOR us, not the other way around! I'm sick and tired of hearing that pathetically old stupid excuse, "guns don't kill people, people do". It's easy access to guns (especially, AKA assault weapons by mentally challenged people), not human bare hands, that cause such massive death tolls!! We need to collectively contact our congressmen and senators to demand that they finally stand up against the NRA's highly paid leaders and lobbyists, reinstate the "Brady Law", along with other much needed preventative measures! If we continue to remain complacent, this horrifying tragedy will only end up as yet another large statistic which will fade from the headlines, our history books and result in many more preventable tragedies to come.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims, their families and with the fervent hope that our government will stop treating innocent human lives, especially children, as being yet another expendable loss.
Prayers for those families who lost loved ones. How do you tell your children that their little brother or sister was killed by a maniac today at school? Gosh I would not want to have to do that.
We have some of the tightest gun laws in the World, and in the last 35 years we have had two multiple shootings, and each one has changed the laws, tightening them even further.
"The two most important changes to the gun laws came in the wake of two national tragedies.
The massacre of 16 people in Hungerford in 1987 led to the banning of all modern semi-automatic rifles, the range of guns that can be fired rapidly without needing to be reloaded.
Nine years later, in 1996, after the killing of 16 schoolchildren and their teacher at a school in Dunblane, Parliament banned all handguns and there is now a mandatory five-year jail sentence for possession of a hand gun." Quoting the BBC
Prayers go out to all the families that have been affected by the tragedy today.
Yes, school should be the safest place in the world, but it isn't. As far back as 1995-96 we were 'trained' about lockdowns, albeit at that time I do not think the word existed. We knew that if we heard a certain firedrill (different sound than regular fire drill) to lock doors and duck under desks. Two years of that and I knew that it was time for me to think about retirement. My heart goes out to the teachers who were killed today and those who survived and bravely took care of the children.
But most of all, my heart is breaking (as I assume is the 'heart of America') for the slaughtered children, the surviving children who will have to deal with today's horrible memories, the parents of the dead children, the families and friends,.... How does a parent go on after losing a child in this manner? A roomful of executed children, how do you forget that scene, that loss?
I live in VA where guns are rampant, the NRA building and Museum are down the street and have to look at them frequently, everyone around me demands their right to bear guns, shut me up the moment that I disagree about gun control (lack thereof),.... Yes, we should be armed to the gills if we are ever attacked on our soil, hunting rifles I understand provided they are not to hunt people. And yes, our law enforcers should be armed with the latest and most effective weapons. But if there is no war why do we need weapons that discharge 15 rounds in no time at all, ..... PLEASE, do not tell me how wrong I am, etc.etc. I have heard it all! Let the facts speak for themselves, such as today's FACT!
A roomful of 4th graders and a teacher are splattered all over that classroom, do not tell me that this is an anomaly. It is a fact and an accepted way of thinking for some.
And I end my comments so that I can thank God that this did not happen in my classroom when I was a teacher. And to continue my prayers for the victims and the survivors. RIP little ones.
Death among children and adolescents
15-24 years:
Accidents
Homicide
Suicide
SUICIDE
Overall teenage suicide rates in the 1990's were higher than those in the 1980's for all races. It is important to watch teens for signs of stress, depression, and suicidal behavior. Two-way communication between the troubled adolescent and parents or persons of trust is extremely important in preventing adolescent suicide.
HOMICIDE
Homicide is one of the most disturbing causes of death among children and adolescents. Sociologists feel that the increase of gangs, teenage homicide, teenage suicide, teenage pregnancy, school drop-out, and other problems are a reflection of a rapidly changing society and family structure. Homicide is a complex issue which does not have a simple answer. Prevention will require understanding of the root cause and a willingness on the part of the public to change those causes.
AUTO ACCIDENTS
The automobile accounts for the largest number of these accidental deaths. Make sure that all infants and children use the proper child car seats, booster seats, and seat belts.
Other top causes of accidental death are drowning, fire, falls, and poisoning.
##################
This is what we really need to be looking at as a society. Suicidal and homicidal tendencies in this age group. Why are so many young people so mentally/emotionally disturbed and what can we do to fix that problem. I understand the reaction to blame guns, but humans were finding ways to kill each other since Caine and Able and will continue to do so regardless of any laws and regulations. Tens of millions of Americans legally own firearms and never fire them in anger. Broken minds do.
This problem with our youth is not new and we have done little to address the problem. Statistics show it getting worse.
As a nation, when there is a problem, we tend to throw regulation and money at it so we can feel good about having "done something about it" but rarely address the root cause. Actually fixing something is a lot harder, oftentimes requiring that we accept things about ourselves and our society that we don't want to acknowledge. Like the way we fail our children.
And I agree with Both sides of the Debate. Yes, Both Sides! There were those after Columbine who quickly said, "Teachers need to be armed"! Well, todays shooting happened because the Mother of the shooter, the teacher owned 2 semi automatic handguns, and her mentally disturbed son got his hands on them. So clearly, arming Teachers doesn't stop it.
There are those who say, "We need to stop marginalizing our children"! Even if parents did, our Politicians and Television Programming does repeatedly, daily!
So perhaps it will take a combination of all the suggestions. When 40% of handgun sales are still not subject to backgound checks, THATS a problem that needs addressing. There shouldn't be a single weapon sold, anywhere, without a background check and that Weapon, being Registered to That Owner! Not a Single One!
Then, those owners, need to take Responsibility for Wanting to, and Owning That Weapon! Meaning....Lock It Up unless in use!
Mental Patients should not be able to open a drawer and pickup someone elses Weapon!
The large Mags. holding 15-30 or more rounds?
Would Anyone Care to tell me why we NEED those?
We Don't! AK47's Them too!!! I don't know a single Deer Hunter that uses an AK47 or it's equivalent.
And as for how we treat children...Now THAT is a problem.
When a young women is raped at a Promenate College, a Catholic One at that, and Alumni Members make the excuse that, "It's only Players Horsing Around"??? What about the Woman? And when did rape become Horseplay?
Just as Bullying is "Just Kids being Kids"?
ONLY because we ALLOW it to be!
Television Commercials telling us we need to lose weight, color our hair, have whiter teeth, on and on and on. Is it any real mystery that children feel Less Than Perfect?
Or Never Normal?
Our Presidential Canidates, and others, saying comments clearly meant to marginalize entire groups of people. Aren't we better than that?
Yes, there are many problems that contributed to this truly sad event. And we as a Nation need to begin to address each and every one of them. And perhaps, look inward, to ourselves and ask, "Do I contribute to the Problem or the Solution?"
And then, DO Something About It!
But Clearly....Just sitting around feeling sorry for everyone involved, is no longer going to help! And saying things like "taking God out of our schools..." doesn't help either!
If God is Out of Schools, it's Only because YOU have taken him out. Everyone else still has Him There! They just don't feel the need to push THEIR GOD, on to someone of another Faith. God is IN our Schools. But What are WE going to do to Help Him with Our World???
'I woke up crying, I cannot stop. I cannot stop the vision of a classroom of slaughtered children. I cannot stop thinking of the adults who died. I cannot stop thinking of the brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, family in general, friends, a town, a nation. All in mourning. I have not turned on the news, I cannot deal with any more sorrow. I pray but as yet, there is no understanding of these events. If I am feeling devastated, what are the families of the victims feeling? I saw some of the faces last night on the news, they were in a church for a service, tears streaming down their faces. Lost, forlorn, desperate, prayerful, forever with pain in their hearts. May God bless the children, may God guide the families, may the Angels guard the forlorn and lost parents who have lost the most precious thing in the world.'
yes, it's a sad, sad thing that happened yesterday. I was in the break room and the TV was on. I looked and asked, "Another school shooting?" Dear Lord.
The men on Dad's side of the family are all hunters. I grew up around guns. I have a number of male acquaintences that live for hunting season. ALL of them, family and friends, eat what they bag.
I have all of Dad's guns here at the house, even though neither of us hunt. Dad passed them to me after moving to that retirement community. It had been a number of years since he'd been out hunting and, at his age, really had no plans to go again.
Hubby is packing, when he goes to work. A small revolver. He served his stint with the AF and spent a year in 'Nam. He knows how to handle guns. His job takes him out on the streets during the wee hours and he has had a couple of close encounters. Nothing happened and he didn't have to even pull out his gun but the threat of robbery and/or personal harm is there. Would be robbers know that all of those delivery guys are carrying cash/checks from their customers on their routes.
Some years back, one of his early morning acquaintences, a bread man, shot someone during an attempted robbery, while out on his route. He did not seriously injure the guy and just received a verbal warning from the police about not having his carry permit. He was strongly advised to get one.
I don't, however, see any need for automatic or semi-automatic weapons being owned or possessed by the general public.
I guess you can say that I support gun conrol, while still believing in our right to bear arms.
I've done my own thinking about yesterday's events, and the best I can come up with is, "Yes, we need to deal with the problem. But the problem isn't guns, at least in the beginning. The problem is the increasing violence, division and hatred in our culture."
If we're going to "put guns on the table", we also need to put on the table such things as ESPN commentators who declare people like RGIII "not black enough", terrible movies like Django, and the kind of union thuggery that was on display in Michigan last week. When nothing is said about a union member telling the Michigan Governor that they'll be at his daughter's soccer games, it becomes clear that scoring political points and achieving an agenda is more important than dealing with the real issues.
In the past four years, race-baiting and thuggery have taken over our political discourse. I'm sick of it, and it doesn't surprise me at all that the message "violence works" is being communicated to some of our youth.
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